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2016 Gender stocktake of state sector boards and committees (2017)

The participation rate of women on state sector boards and committees as at December 2016 was 45.3 percent, an increase from 43.4 percent in 2015.

The gender stocktake of state sector boards and committees is undertaken annually by the Ministry for Women. We count the ministerial appointments to state sector boards and committees as at 31 December 2016. The data is taken from CAB 51 forms which are produced annually by the Cabinet Office.

The stocktake includes appointments made to state-sector boards and committees considered by the Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee (APH) or other Cabinet committees, and appointments made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of a minister. It does not include members who have been elected, appointed as members of professional groups without ministerial right of approval, ex-officio members, or current members of parliament appointees. The stocktake does not include temporary boards or committees which are established for a particular project.

The stocktake captures the ministerial-appointed board members as at 31 December 2016. Appointments made outside of APH or other Cabinet Committees are by definition not included. There may be progress made within these appointments, which is not reflected in the Stocktake results. For example, in the relevant timeframe, the Ministry of Justice reports that outside of APH and Cabinet Committees appointees, there were 128 people appointed to board positions, and of that number 82 were women.